Identifying Major and Minor Keys: Two Shortcuts
Learn to identify major and minor keys by ear and it will be much easier for you to play by ear and improvise. Here are two shortcuts to help you learn.
Key
The key of a piece of music determines the set of notes it uses and you can learn to recognise the two types of key, major and minor, by ear. Key is closely related to musical scale and identifying the key can help you play by ear and transcribe more efficiently.
Free articles about Key
The Ultimate Guide to the Circle of Fifths
Follow along with our all-in-one guide to learn how this master tool can help you play music, understand theory, and even write a masterpiece.
Four Chords and the Truth
Did you know: a huge number of popular songs use just four chords. Find out which four and why in this article, and learn how to write your own 4-chord songs.
The Ultimate Guide to Minor Keys
What makes a minor key? Learn all about how minor scales and chords are built, and how they differ from their major counterparts.
Exploring Common Chord Progressions
Explore common chord progressions, what makes them so powerful, and how they’re used in popular music to make a song stick.
The Creepy Minor Key
What better time than Halloween to explore music’s darker side? Dive into the world of minor and learn how to create your own creepy tune.
About Hearing Key Changes
Katie Wardrobe from Midnight Music discusses how to hear key changes in music, and the things that sometimes trip musicians up in hearing this modulation.
The Magic Number and How to Use It to Learn Anything
How can we use neuroscience as a tool for memorizing and mastering music? Learn about the magic number and its applications in efficient learning.
The Truck Driver’s Gear Shift
Is the Truck Driver’s Gear Shift – a dramatic key change upwards near the end of a song – a cheap trick or a songwriter’s best friend? The answer is…
Transpose and Terrify!
Sometimes, all it takes to make a tune spooky is some major-to-minor transposition. Resident pro Sara Campbell shows you how, just in time for Halloween!
How To Recognize Major and Minor Keys
Songs are in a major or minor key and it’s important for a musician to be able to quickly and easily tell which one it is. Here are some tricks you can use.
How To Make A Backing Track, with Joanne Cooper
Prolific songwriter Joanne Cooper shows you how to make a backing track, and the myriad of ways you can use it for practice, improvisation, and more.
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